Posts Tagged ‘Scrapping in the Pines’

Yes, it’s that time of year again…. Scrapping in the Pines, our bi-annual scrapbooking retreat for four days in the cool pine-covered mountains of Prescott, Arizona. There are seven of us going….. but this time I’m packing GAMES! Yes, you read that right… GAMES! Yahtzee, Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, 13 and Carcasonne! We’ve never played games in Prescott! And movies, but we always take movies!

AND… please make sure you’re seated for this announcement… I’m not scrapbooking at Scrapping in the Pines! I know! Unbelievable. I am making cards this trip. I’m always a bit envious of my sister’s beautiful handmade cards that arrive in our mailbox several times a year. Mine are usually handmade by a little Asian woman and purchased in a big box at Costco. But after my third box of that type…. I have LOTS of baby and sympathy cards… but I’m fresh out of birthday cards … AGAIN Enough!

I scooted into Barnes & Noble tonight and bought a card making magazine….it cost as much as buying five cards at Hallmark, but it will be worth it’s weight in gold when I’m done. All of my scrapping patterned paper, ribbons, buttons, eyelets, lace, trim, glitter, flowers and such will be making the journey. Along with blank cards and envelopes. I also resurrected the stamps, ink, embossing glitter, heat gun, and the metal embossing template! What a blast from the past! WAIT! Inspiration just struck at this very moment… and you’re here to witness it first hand…. I can MAKE the envelopes! Oh, sweet mother of baby Jesus, that is a great idea. My aviator husband has all kinds of maps that will be perfect. YES!

And so, it will be the first time EVER that this retreat should REALLY be called “Relaxing, Gaming and Crafting in the Pines.” But we’re not changing the name after 15 years!

As I sat writing all the family birthdays in my new Greece calendar, filled with cerulean seas, cobalt domes and whitewashed walls, I realized that the countdown to nights away from home has begun! It’s 15! I know some people have to travel for work, and they don’t love it, but I work/live/breathe/sleep/teach in the same four walls day in and day out. No mistaking it, I love it… but time away from home brings joy to my globetrotting soul. I have imagined that the perfect job for me would be to travel the world and write reviews of far off lands for future vacationers.

There is a night coming this month… only one night.. but still, I look forward to it with my hubby. The first of March there are four glorious days marked on the calendar for Scrapping in the Pines with my girlfriends. It is supposedly a scrapbooking retreat… but less and less scrapbooking is accomplished as the years go by. It should probably be renamed Being Lazy in the Pines…. THAT is a true holiday….. no kids, no cooking, no bedtime, no cleaning, no agenda (other than posted mealtimes)… no wonder it calls my name every six months! Last September we watched 8 or 9 movies! Couch Potatoes unite! It was sublime.

Rick and I endured one of those time-share sales pitches to “win” a free cruise… with some strings attached, of course. But the strings are cheap cheap cheap for the eight-day trip. I like bunk beds! We are awaiting to see if it will be the Western Caribbean in March or Alaska in June. I’m REALLY hoping for white beaches and not white whales…. but alas, it is also my husband’s 25th wedding anniversary… so I was the nice wife (not the crabby wife) and let him choose one destination. He’s a true Canadian with ice in his veins.

Our annual trip to Lake Tahoe has moved to August this year…. which is fantastic for us living in Phoenix, right next door to hell in the summer. And our son, who is cycling again after the broken arm the week before Christmas, has a couple of races that may require over-night stays… can you see how high my hand is raised to volunteer to escort him??? I feel some mother-son bonding around the corner. I’ll wear whatever t-shirt they want me to!

So, school drudgery is laid to rest each time I peer at the highlighted days in my purse daytimer. By the end of February the kids will be wondering why I keep taking the daytimer into the bathroom so often. It’s my own version of Calgon.

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What’s the Deal with the Jar?

Welcome to My Sister's Jar. The story behind the blog lies in the original post on Feb. 2, 2008. Type "giddy moments" into the search box to find it.

I'm a homeschool mom who loves to speak and write, encouraging moms to press-on in motherhood. Two of my books are available NOW! Laughing in the Midst of Mothering and Laughing in the Midst of Marriage. See them at www.LindaCrosby.com or www.cbd.com.

I have four children, one of whom is adopted from Colombia, so there are LOTS of adoption tidbits here.
~~~~~~ Linda Ann Crosby